DALLAS – (May 28, 2014) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that the city of Houston will receive $400,000 to assess several sites throughout the city for petroleum and hazardous substance contamination. Nationwide, 171 communities will receive 264 grants totaling $67 million in brownfields funding to clean and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and leverage jobs while protecting public health and the environment.

“Brownfields grants represent a win-win-win for the environment, economy, and people of Houston,” said EPA Regional Administrator Ron Curry. “Revitalizing these contaminated sites turns them into assets for the community.”

Houston will receive $200,000 to assess nine sites with potential hazardous substance contamination. Another grant of $200,000 will go toward assessments of seven sites with potential petroleum contamination. Both grants will also be used to inventory brownfields sites, prepare cleanup plans, and conduct community outreach activities.

The FY14 Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grants will give communities and businesses a chance to return economic stability to under-served and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods through the assessment and clean-up of abandoned industrial and commercial properties, places where environmental cleanups and new jobs are most needed.

A total of approximately $23.5 million is going to communities that have been impacted by plant closures. Other selected recipients include tribes and communities in 44 states across the country; and over 50 of the grants are going to HUD-DOT-EPA grant recipient communities.

Since the inception of the EPA’s Brownfields program in 1995, cumulative brownfield program investments have leveraged more than $21 billion from a variety of public and private sources for cleanup and redevelopment activities. This equates to an average of $17.79 leveraged per EPA brownfield dollar expended. These investments have resulted in approximately 93,000 jobs nationwide. These projects demonstrate the positive impact a small investment of federal brownfields funding can have on community revitalization through leveraging jobs, producing clean energy, and providing recreation opportunities for surrounding neighborhoods. EPA’s Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields sites.